A Service of Worship for
July 5, 2020

"What message have you for young people?" 
asked Carl Stern of NBC
 in concluding a television interview 
with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel 
shortly before his death.  
Rabbi Heschel replied,
“Let them remember 
that there is a meaning beyond absurdity.  
Let them be sure that every deed counts, 
that every word has power, 
and that we all can do our share 
to redeem the world in spite of 
all absurdities and 
all frustrations and 
all disappointments. 
 And above all, 
[let them] remember . . . 
to build a life as if it were a work of art."
Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page.
​
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Prelude
“Er segnet, die den Herrn furchten” from Der Herr denket an uns BWV 196
(God blesses those who fear the Lord), by J. S. Bach, Patrick Parker, organ.

​Call to Worship

Opening Sentences
May a good vision catch me.
    May a benevolent vision take hold of me and move me.
May a deep and full vision come over me
    and burst open around me.
May a luminous vision inform me, enfold me.
    May I awaken into the story that surrounds,
May I awaken into the beautiful story.
    May the wondrous story find me.
May the wilderness that makes beauty
    arise between two loves,
    arise beautifully between my body
​    and the body of this land,
    between my flesh and the flesh of this earth,  
    here and now, on this day,
May I taste something sacred.

​Scripture Lesson: Genesis 2:15-25

​Time for Children

​Call to Confession
Unison Confession
For times when we have assumed
that we, and we alone, had the right answers,
          certain of our certainty,
          certain of their error,
          talking, not listening, speaking, not hearing,
forgive us.
 
For times when we have been too timid
to speak a word of truth we felt,
          afraid of not being heard,
          afraid of being heard,
          listening, not speaking, hearing but silent,
forgive us.
 
If ever we forget
that You are present among us,
          in our words,
          in their words,
          in the words we read,
          in the stories we tell,
and ours is but the task of discovery,
forgive us and make us free.  Amen
Music/Hymn
“God of the Sparrow,” Text by Jaroslav J. Vajda, sung by the Covenant Singers, Karen Kline, piano. 
​​
​Proclamation

​Prayer
Holy one, so many stories have yet to be told. So many stories have been held in contempt or disbelieved. So many stories have been changed, altered to make them fit the horrendous ideals of white supremacy. Help us, dear God, help us to listen anew. Help us to be willing to learn. Help us to realize there is so much we have misunderstood and ignored. Remind us that our experience is not everyone’s experience. Renew our courage to sit with pain: our own pain and the pain of others. Reengage our compassion. Help us to hear the voices who have long been silenced or controlled. 

We pray for everyone who is sick. We pray for everyone who is grieving. We pray for the overwhelmed, the confused, the impoverished, the desperate. We pray for those who must go into work: those who face greater risk in order to provide for the rest of us. We pray for the children. We pray for them as they face these difficult days. We pray they have support and encouragement, that they have food and shelter, that as they begin to understand the painful realities of poverty, racism, and this pandemic that they will find the strength to be part of solutions and challenge us to do what must be done. We pray we will listen to them.

Creative God, continue your story in us and with us.
Amen
- Laura Mayo
​
​Invitation

​Prayer of Dedication
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread in it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.

​Affirmation of Faith
To proclaim transformation, 
we are empowered to take back the Scriptures: 
to speak of them and to hear them, 
painfully, angrily, prophetically, 
hopefully, lovingly, and gracefully.

​Benediction
And so we go together:
we go listening, 
we go learning, 
we go leaning in.

Postlude
“Sonata III:  Allegro maestoso e vivace” by Felix Mendelssohn, Patrick Parker, organ.
Worship Notes

The worship leader is Jeannette Dixon.

The prelude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.

The Call to Worship is from How Then Shall I Live by Wayne Muller.  

The Opening Sentences are by David Abram, ecologist and author, as reprinted in Prayers for a Thousand Years, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon. 

The Unison Confession is by Jim Avera. 

“God of the Sparrow” text by Jaroslav J. Vajda; music by Carl Schalk.  Karen Kline, piano and members of The Covenant Singers. 

The Prayer of Dedication is by Chief Seattle (1854).

The Affirmation of Faith is Rebecca Chop.

The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
​
Copyright (c) 2020, Covenant Church